Heat exchangers of this type are used for example in vehicles e.g. in order to dissipate heat from a cooling circuit, in which a liquid coolant circulates, or respectively in order to supply heat to an air stream which can be discharged into the environment or can be supplied to a vehicle interior for the heating thereof. Preferably, the heat exchanger is a charge air cooler, which is arranged downstream of a charging arrangement, for example a turbocharger, in a fresh air system for supplying an internal combustion engine with fresh air, in order to cool the charge air which is compressed and heated here, before it is supplied to the combustion chambers of the internal combustion engine.
Such a heat exchanger can be configured for example as a fin-pipe heat exchanger and can accordingly have multiple pipes which extend through a first fluid path for conducting the first fluid, said pipes externally being coupled in heat-transmitting fashion to cooling fins which are arranged in the first fluid path and through or respectively around which the first fluid can flow and said pipes internally forming a second fluid path for conducting the second fluid. For the case where the heat exchanger forms a charge air cooler, a liquid coolant flows in the pipes, whilst the charge air flows in the region of the cooling fins.
In such a fin-pipe heat exchanger, the pipes and the cooling fins are stacked on one another as it were in layers in a stacking direction for the formation of a cooler block, wherein this stacking direction extends transversely to a main flow direction, which the first fluid has in the first fluid path. Such a cooler block can now have, on two outer sides facing away from one another in the stacking direction, in each case a side part for lateral delimitation of the first fluid path.
For the integration of such a heat exchanger into a gas-conducting duct, for example a fresh air duct, it can be necessary, to avoid leakages or respectively a bypass, to connect the said side parts of the cooler block with duct walls which lie opposite one another in the region of the heat exchanger. Depending on the type of such a connection, a transmission of tensile forces can occur here between the respective duct wall and the respective side part. These tensile forces are transmitted within the cooler block via the cooling fins and pipes layered on one another. As usually a particularly light construction is aimed for in vehicle manufacture, the cooling fins, like the pipes and the side parts, have wall thicknesses which are as small as possible. Hereby, in particular, the cooling fins in the region of connecting sites, via which they are fixedly connected with the adjacent pipes or respectively with one of the side parts, can be exposed to high mechanical stresses, which can lead to a failure of the connections, which can be, for example, soldered connections, and/or can lead to a failure of the cooling fins. Damage to the heat exchanger also involves a reduced efficiency. Additionally or alternatively, the heat exchanger can expand in operation, whereby compressive forces occur in the heat exchanger, which can likewise stress the connections.